Summary
In their cramped lodging near the forbidding college walls, Sue faces eviction with the children while Jude stays elsewhere due to lack of space. Little Jude, the eldest boy, becomes increasingly distressed about their homelessness and his father's absence. In a moment of exhausted honesty, Sue tells him about her pregnancy, hoping to treat him like 'an aged friend.' The boy explodes with despair, asking why she would bring another child into their miserable situation. That night, while Sue goes to meet Jude for breakfast, the boy hangs himself and the two younger children, leaving a note: 'Done because we are too menny.' The discovery destroys Sue and Jude. A doctor suggests the boy represents a new generation that sees life's terrors too clearly, too young. Sue blames herself for her brutal honesty, while Jude tries to comfort her by saying it was the boy's nature. At the funeral, Sue breaks down at the gravesite, begging to see the children one more time. The trauma causes her to miscarry prematurely, and that baby also dies. This chapter represents the complete collapse of everything Jude and Sue have built together. Hardy explores how good intentions—Sue's desire for honesty, their love for each other—can lead to devastating consequences when the world is fundamentally hostile to their dreams.
Coming Up in Chapter 45
Sue recovers physically but remains spiritually shattered, while Jude returns to his stonework. In their new lodgings near Saint Silas Church, they must somehow find a way to continue living after losing everything that mattered to them.
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An excerpt from the original text.(~500 words)
Sue sat looking at the bare floor of the room, the house being little more than an old intramural cottage, and then she regarded the scene outside the uncurtained window. At some distance opposite, the outer walls of Sarcophagus College—silent, black, and windowless—threw their four centuries of gloom, bigotry, and decay into the little room she occupied, shutting out the moonlight by night and the sun by day. The outlines of Rubric College also were discernible beyond the other, and the tower of a third farther off still. She thought of the strange operation of a simple-minded man’s ruling passion, that it should have led Jude, who loved her and the children so tenderly, to place them here in this depressing purlieu, because he was still haunted by his dream. Even now he did not distinctly hear the freezing negative that those scholared walls had echoed to his desire. The failure to find another lodging, and the lack of room in this house for his father, had made a deep impression on the boy—a brooding undemonstrative horror seemed to have seized him. The silence was broken by his saying: “Mother, _what_ shall we do to-morrow!” “I don’t know!” said Sue despondently. “I am afraid this will trouble your father.” “I wish Father was quite well, and there had been room for him! Then it wouldn’t matter so much! Poor Father!” “It wouldn’t!” “Can I do anything?” “No! All is trouble, adversity, and suffering!” “Father went away to give us children room, didn’t he?” “Partly.” “It would be better to be out o’ the world than in it, wouldn’t it?” “It would almost, dear.” “’Tis because of us children, too, isn’t it, that you can’t get a good lodging?” “Well—people do object to children sometimes.” “Then if children make so much trouble, why do people have ’em?” “Oh—because it is a law of nature.” “But we don’t ask to be born?” “No indeed.” “And what makes it worse with me is that you are not my real mother, and you needn’t have had me unless you liked. I oughtn’t to have come to ’ee—that’s the real truth! I troubled ’em in Australia, and I trouble folk here. I wish I hadn’t been born!” “You couldn’t help it, my dear.” “I think that whenever children be born that are not wanted they should be killed directly, before their souls come to ’em, and not allowed to grow big and walk about!” Sue did not reply. She was doubtfully pondering how to treat this too reflective child. She at last concluded that, so far as circumstances permitted, she would be honest and candid with one who entered into her difficulties like an aged friend. “There is going to be another in our family soon,” she hesitatingly remarked. “How?” “There is going to be another baby.” “What!” The boy jumped up wildly. “Oh God, Mother, you’ve never a-sent for another; and such trouble with what you’ve got!” “Yes, I have, I am sorry to...
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Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Road of Brutal Honesty
Mistaking our need to unburden ourselves for the other person's need to know our truth.
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to distinguish between helpful honesty and harmful truth-dumping that serves the speaker, not the listener.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when you feel the urge to share difficult truths - ask yourself 'Who does this information serve?' before speaking.
Now let's explore the literary elements.
Terms to Know
Purlieu
The outskirts or border area of a place, often referring to the less desirable neighborhoods around institutions. In this chapter, it describes the cramped, depressing area where Sue and the children are forced to live near the colleges.
Modern Usage:
We still talk about living 'on the wrong side of the tracks' or in the shadow of prestigious institutions we can't access.
Intramural cottage
A small dwelling within or very close to institutional walls, typically basic housing for workers or the poor. These were often overcrowded and poorly maintained.
Modern Usage:
Like subsidized housing near universities or hospitals where service workers live but can barely afford rent.
Scholared walls
Hardy's phrase for the university buildings that represent academic privilege and exclusion. These walls literally and symbolically shut out people like Jude who dream of education but lack the right background.
Modern Usage:
We see this in how elite colleges still feel intimidating and unwelcoming to first-generation students.
Ruling passion
An overwhelming desire or obsession that controls someone's decisions, even when it's destructive. Jude's dream of university education has become this kind of consuming force.
Modern Usage:
Like someone who moves the family to an expensive area for 'good schools' they can't afford, sacrificing everyone's wellbeing for a dream.
New generation pessimism
Hardy's idea that modern children see life's harsh realities too clearly, too young. Little Jude represents kids who understand adult problems but lack the emotional tools to handle them.
Modern Usage:
Today's kids exposed to adult stress through social media, news, or family financial struggles often develop this same overwhelming awareness.
Freezing negative
The cold, absolute rejection that institutions give to outsiders. The university walls 'echo' this rejection to Jude's dreams, but he refuses to hear it clearly.
Modern Usage:
Like getting form rejection letters or being ghosted by employers - the message is clear but we keep hoping anyway.
Too menny
Little Jude's misspelled final note, meaning 'too many.' It captures both his child's perspective and the brutal economic reality that extra mouths to feed can destroy a struggling family.
Modern Usage:
Families still face this calculation about whether they can afford another child, especially in economic uncertainty.
Characters in This Chapter
Sue
Devastated mother
Faces eviction while pregnant, makes the tragic decision to treat Little Jude as an adult confidant about their problems. Her brutal honesty about the pregnancy triggers the boy's despair and the murder-suicide.
Modern Equivalent:
The overwhelmed single mom who overshares with her oldest kid because she has no other support
Little Jude
Tragic child victim
The eldest boy who becomes consumed with adult worries about homelessness and poverty. When told about another baby coming, he kills himself and the younger children, believing they're a burden.
Modern Equivalent:
The parentified kid who takes on too much responsibility and cracks under pressure
Jude
Absent father figure
Forced to stay elsewhere due to lack of space, his obsession with the university has led the family to this desperate situation. He tries to comfort Sue after the tragedy but can't undo the damage.
Modern Equivalent:
The dad chasing a dream job that keeps the family struggling while he's physically or emotionally absent
The doctor
Social commentator
Explains Little Jude's actions as representing a new type of child who sees life's terrors too clearly. Provides Hardy's philosophical framework for understanding the tragedy.
Modern Equivalent:
The therapist or counselor who tries to make sense of a family crisis with psychological explanations
Key Quotes & Analysis
"Done because we are too menny"
Context: Left after he hangs himself and the two younger children
The misspelling makes it even more heartbreaking - a child's attempt to solve an adult problem with devastating logic. It shows how poverty can make children see themselves as burdens rather than blessings.
In Today's Words:
We're just too much trouble and cost too much money
"All is trouble, adversity, and suffering!"
Context: Her exhausted response to Little Jude asking what they'll do tomorrow
This moment of brutal honesty with a child sets up the tragedy. Sue treats him like an adult confidant because she's overwhelmed, but children can't handle this level of despair.
In Today's Words:
Everything in our life is just one disaster after another
"The failure to find another lodging, and the lack of room in this house for his father, had made a deep impression on the boy"
Context: Describing Little Jude's growing anxiety about their homelessness
Shows how adult problems seep into children's consciousness. The boy is absorbing stress about housing and family separation that he's too young to process properly.
In Today's Words:
The kid was really messed up about them being basically homeless and his dad having to stay somewhere else
"It is the beginning of the coming universal wish not to live"
Context: Explaining Little Jude's suicide to the grieving parents
Hardy's dark prediction about modern life - that increased awareness will lead to increased despair. The doctor sees Little Jude as representing a new generation that understands suffering too well.
In Today's Words:
Kids today see how messed up the world is and don't want to deal with it
Thematic Threads
Class
In This Chapter
Their poverty creates the housing crisis that puts unbearable pressure on the children, making them feel like burdens
Development
Evolved from earlier barriers to education and marriage—now class literally kills their children
In Your Life:
You might feel your financial struggles weighing on your kids, wondering how much they understand about your stress
Identity
In This Chapter
Sue's identity as an honest, progressive woman conflicts with her role as protector—her principles harm those she loves
Development
Continues her struggle between intellectual ideals and practical consequences
In Your Life:
You might find your values or beliefs sometimes clash with what's actually best for your family
Social Expectations
In This Chapter
Society's rejection of their unconventional family creates the desperation that leads to tragedy
Development
The ultimate consequence of earlier social disapproval—exclusion becomes deadly
In Your Life:
You might feel how social judgment affects your children, even when you try to shield them
Human Relationships
In This Chapter
Love isn't enough—Sue and Jude's deep care for each other and the children can't protect against systemic forces
Development
The final test of their bond, showing love's limits against overwhelming circumstances
In Your Life:
You might realize that loving someone deeply doesn't automatically mean you can save them from every pain
Personal Growth
In This Chapter
Little Jude represents premature awareness—seeing adult realities before developing adult coping mechanisms
Development
Introduced here as the dark side of intelligence and sensitivity
In Your Life:
You might worry about bright children who seem to understand too much too soon about life's difficulties
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What specific information does Sue share with Little Jude, and what does she hope to accomplish by being so honest with him?
analysis • surface - 2
Why does Sue believe that treating Little Jude 'like an aged friend' is the right approach, and how does this backfire?
analysis • medium - 3
Where do you see adults today sharing burdens with children or others who can't handle them, thinking they're being honest or respectful?
application • medium - 4
How can you tell the difference between helpful honesty and dumping your problems on someone who can't solve them?
application • deep - 5
What does this tragedy reveal about the responsibility we have to protect others from truths they're not equipped to handle?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Truth Filter Check
Think of a difficult truth you're considering sharing with someone in your life right now. Write down who would benefit from this truth - you or them. Then list three questions you could ask yourself before sharing: Can they act on this information? Will this help them or just transfer my burden? Am I sharing this because they need it or because I need relief?
Consider:
- •Consider whether the person has the power to change the situation you're describing
- •Think about whether you're seeking support or just venting frustration
- •Ask if there's someone better equipped to handle this information who could help you process it first
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when someone shared a hard truth with you that you weren't ready to hear, or when you shared something that hurt someone you cared about. What would you do differently now?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 45: When Faith Becomes a Prison
In the next chapter, you'll discover trauma can make people retreat into rigid thinking as a form of self-protection, and learn couples sometimes grow in opposite directions after shared tragedy. These insights reveal timeless patterns that resonate in our own lives and relationships.